Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. (GCC:CSE; GCCFF:OTC; A0RLEP:WKN; 3TZ:FSE) is "working hard, finding more gold," President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frank Callaghan told Kevin Harrington, an original "Shark Tank" investor, in an Oct. 9 interview. "Stick with the winning team."
The Canadian explorer-developer is targeting a potential multimillion-ounce gold resource at its 3,814-hectare Quesnelle project near Hixon, British Columbia, in the prolific Cariboo Camp, according to its Investor Presentation. Historically, gold, silver, lead and zinc were produced at Quesnelle.
The company's neighbors in the mining district include Osisko Development Corp. (ODV:TSX.V) (Cariboo gold project), Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (SPA:TSX.V) (Spanish Mountain deposit), Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd. (OMM:TSX.V; OMMSF:OTCMKTS) (Wingdam mine) and Taseko Mines Ltd. (TKO:TSX; TGB:NYSE.MKT) (Gibraltar mine).
Callaghan began rediscovering the Cariboo Camp in the mid-1990s as Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. He and his then team discovered a gold deposit at Bonanza Ledge and advanced the project to production. He also assembled and developed the Cariboo gold project. Ultimately, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (OR:TSX; OR:NYSE) acquired Barkerville and the assets in 2015 for $330 million, and Osisko Development is about to restart mining operations in the camp.
Subsequently, in 2019, Callaghan acquired Quesnelle, where he aims to repeat his previous successes, given the property's geology is similar to that of the other two projects.
4 Reasons to Invest
In the interview, Callaghan told Harrington the following factors make Golden Cariboo an attractive investment:
1) Ongoing positive drill results. Every hole drilled this year at Quesnelle has returned gold and significantly wide intercepts, Callaghan said.
Two most recent highlight intercepts, as reported by Streetwise Reports, were from the Halo zone. They were:
- 85.83 meters (85.83m) of 0.55 grams per ton gold (0.55 g/t gold) from surface, including 17.06m of 1.75 g/t Au (hole QGQ24-15)
- 65.27m of 0.25 g/t Au, including 11.09m of 1 g/t Au (hole QGQ24-11)
The company is carrying out a targeted and systematic drill program to further define Halo and beyond and identify additional mineralization conducive to bulk tonnage mining, the CEO noted in the release. Another goal is to determine whether the Halo, North Hixon and Main zones are separate or whether Halo and Main are connected and North Hixon, separate, runs alongside.
2) The skilled, experienced team. Callaghan told Harrington, "The team that we have is second to none. They find gold, and they're good at it."
Golden Cariboo's current onsite technical team, consists of four key members, according to the company. The project manager, charged with overall supervision of Quesnelle, is Angelique Justason. Her 30-plus years of experience in the industry includes being instrumental in the Bonanza Ledge deposit discovery with Callaghan.
Leading the activities at Quesnelle are Myles Dickson, project geologist, and Trevor Smith, senior geologist, who have worked together in the past. Dickson, in his decade in mining exploration, has been involved with Callaghan's Cariboo gold project, NexGen Energy Ltd.'s (NXE:TSX; NXE:NYSE.MKT) Rook 1 project and Fission Uranium Corp.'s (FCU:TSX; FCUUF:OTCQX; 2FU:FSE) Triple R deposit. Smith has worked on numerous exploration projects in Europe and North America in his seven years in the industry, including Westhaven Gold Corp.'s (WHN:TSX.V) Shovelnose gold project.
Julia Mehner, the junior geologist, in charge of core logging, has done exploration for precious and battery metals in Germany and Finland.
"This management expertise significantly derisks the exploration process, as they have the knowledge and experience to navigate the challenges of bringing a project from discovery to production," John Newell, of John Newell & Associates, told Streetwise Reports. "Their involvement also signals confidence in the project, with insiders holding approximately 20% of the company's shares."
3) Goal to be taken out. Callaghan said his intention with Quesnelle is to develop it to the point of being ready to go into production. He also pointed out that Quesnelle is surrounded on three sides by property owned by Osisko, the largest landholder and operator in the Cariboo Camp and the acquirer of Callaghan's previous company, Barkerville Gold Mines.
4) Positioning as a gold junior. Callaghan cited the strategy, buy low, sell high, and noted the junior gold market is "very low right now." He implied that the current, opportunistic window with this type of gold mining company could close soon.
"I think that that's probably going to change because the price of the metal is really high," he added.
Gold Sector Advice: Invest in Juniors
With the gold price continuing its ascent toward US$2,800 per ounce (US$2,800/oz), industry experts agree with Callaghan.
Brien Lundin touted junior mining stocks in the Oct. 2 issue of his Gold Newsletter.
"From a fundamental standpoint, everything seems to be turning in favor of gold," he wrote. "We're in a long-term, secular bull market. And we need to be positioned for it. One of the best ways, of course, is through high-quality junior mining equities."
Of the three types of mining companies, majors, midtiers and juniors, the juniors offer the greatest leverage to increasing commodity prices and the highest potential return, Ahead of the Herd's Richard Mills purported recently.
"Investing early in the development cycle of the right gold junior, one that has an excellent project in a safe jurisdiction, led by experienced management with the ability to raise money, can reap huge rewards—five, 10, even 20 times your money isn't uncommon," wrote Mills.
U.S. Global Investors' Frank Holmes explained, in an Investing.com article, that all gold equities are an "incredible opportunity" now because they are not trading at levels that reflect the rising gold price.
"And since gold mining stocks have typically moved out of lockstep with the broader market," he added, "they offer a level of diversification that I believe can help hedge portfolios against market downturns."
According to Technical Analyst Clive Maund, the charts indicate that gold is about to "go into vertical melt-up mode" once it breaks above roughly US$2,800/oz. Accordingly, "the gains in all gold-related investments at this time should be spectacular."
FXEmpire Analyst Christopher Lewis thinks gold eventually will reach US$3,000/oz, he wrote in an Oct. 15 article. Factors supporting gold continue to be the U.S. dollar, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, central banks' gold buying and geopolitics around the globe. Short-term pullbacks in the gold price are buying opportunities, Lewis added.
"Even if we were to break down below the US$2,600 level, I have no interest whatsoever in shorting gold," he wrote. "It is far too strong, and I think that would only bring in more value hunting."
Throughout 2025, other experts estimate the gold price will range from US$2,800–3,200/oz, according to a recent Skilling article. Longer term, analysts predict it could reach US$6,800/oz by 2040, representing a 7.2% annual rate of return. Central bank policies, global economic trends and inflation are forecasted to keep influencing the price.
Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management wrote in his Q3 Portfolio Review, "The clear winner over the next year or so is likely to be gold. Both sentiment and the macro environment are turning in gold's favor, with much more to come."
Buy for Gold Discovery Exposure
Couloir Capital Senior Mining Analyst Ron Wortel, in a recent research report, recommended Golden Cariboo as a Buy "for exposure to gold resource discovery in a Tier 1 jurisdiction as the market delivers record gold prices."
He highlighted a strong technical team as one of the many investment highlights. Callaghan's history in the Cariboo Camp shows his "entrepreneurial drive and commitment to restarting the Cariboo Gold Rush," Wortel wrote. "Frank and his team are bringing this drive, experience and commitment to making another discovery to the work in Hixon. . .These factors are part of this company's value proposition. Can they do it again?"
Exploration upside is also noteworthy, wrote the analyst, given that Golden Cariboo owns three additional claim groups in the camp: Rainbow, RimRock and White Pine.
Wortel's fair value price on Golden Cariboo implies a 90% return for investors.
According to Newell, Golden Cariboo offers investors "a compelling opportunity in the junior gold sector." As the company furthers its exploration work, significant growth and additional high-grade gold discoveries are likely, which will unlock more value.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to Refinitiv, management and insiders own 20.03%, or 7.8 million (7.8M), shares of Golden Cariboo. They are President and CEO Frank Callaghan with 16.45% or 6.93M shares, Elaine Callaghan with 0.97% or 0.41M shares, Director Andrew Rees with 2.3% or 0.33M shares and Director Laurence Smoliak with 0.3% or 0.13M shares.
Retail investors hold the remaining 79.97%. There are no institutional investors.
Golden Cariboo has 42.12M outstanding shares and 34.32M free float traded shares.
Its market cap is CA$6.43 million. Its 52-week range is CA$0.075–$0.36 per share.
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